Portraits, manuscripts, and rare first editions come together in this exhibition at Shanghai Museum East Branch, tracing five centuries of British literary history through the faces and handwriting of its most influential writers. On loan from institutions including the National Portrait Gallery in London, as well as several universities, libraries, and private collections, the show brings together 135 objects connected to 82 authors — from Shakespeare, Wordsworth, and the Brontë sisters to Dickens, Conan Doyle, and J.K. Rowling. Paintings and photographs sit alongside letters, notebooks, and early book editions, offering a closer look at the lives behind some of the English language’s most widely read works.